How to make empanada dough for baking
This my easy recipe for making empanada dough for baking, it step-by-step photos and video. You can make the dough by hand or using a food processor (or a stand mixer).
Making homemade empanada dough is not as hard as you might think, especially if you have a food processor. And even if you don’t have one, it is still pretty easy to make by hand because the dough doesn’t need be overworked, and requires minimal kneading.
Empanadas, also known as turnovers or hand pies, are one of my favorite foods. They’re so versatile and can be made with an infinite number of delicious fillings – you can be as creative as you want with empanada fillings. Empanadas are also the perfect way to use leftovers, especially when a) you don’t enough for a full meal of leftovers and b) you want something different.
Video Recipe
Other empanada dough recipes:
How to make empanada dough for frying
Recipe for sweet empanada dough (for dessert empanadas)
If you want more empanada recipes, you can also check out my All about Empanadas: The Empanada 101 Guide
Store bought empanada discs vs homemade empanada dough
These days it is very easy to find the empanada discs already made (frozen) in Latin grocery stores, and even though I was skeptical at first, they are actually quite good. However, homemade always taste better and fresher.
Another benefit of making homemade empanada dough for baking is that you can customize the dough by adding spices or herbs that will add flavor and complement or contrast with the fillings. You can also make a large batch of homemade empanada dough, roll it out and cut it into discs, then freeze the discs (separate with wax paper) for later use.
How to make empanada dough for baking
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ to 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter (1 stick of butter = 4 oz)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of water or milk adjust as needed to obtain a soft and smooth dough
Instructions
Making homemade empanada dough:
- Mix the flour and salt in a food processor.
- Add the butter and pulse
- Add the egg and the water or milk (in small increments) and continue pulsing until a clumpy dough forms.
- To make the empanada dough by hand, follow the same instruction but use your hands to mix the ingredients together.
- Split the dough into 2 large ball, flatten slightly into the shape of disks. The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated until ready to use (1-2 days max).
- Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate). You can also make small individual balls with the dough and roll out each individual ball to a round shape (doesn’t need to be perfectly round) – if you have a tortilla press you can use it to flatten the dough balls.
- Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator/freezer to use later.
Assembling and baking the empanadas:
- To assemble the empanadas or turnovers, place a spoonful of the filling on the middle of each empanada disc. The amount of filling will vary based on the size of the empanada, but in general, it’s easier to seal an empanada that isn’t overstuffed. Also, the more you make empanadas, the easier it becomes to stuff them to the max and still seal them properly.
- To seal the empanadas, fold the disc and seal the edges by pressing the dough with your fingers. If you’re having a hard time sealing the edges, you can use brush the inside edges with egg white, it will act as a glue for the empanadas. You can also use a fork to help seal the edges, just press the top of the fork against the edges. To the repulgue or churito, the curl type seal, use your fingers to twist the curl the edges. There are also empanada molds that you can buy and will help seal the empanadas.
- For best results, I recommend refrigerating for at least 30 minutes the empanadas before baking – this also helps them seal better and prevents the filling from leaking out.
- If you want your empanadas to have a nice golden finish, then you can brush them with egg wash (a whole egg whisked or egg yolk plus a few drops of water whisked).
- Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven. I usually bake them at 375F-400F, the temperature will vary based on the oven and the size of the empanadas. I bake the smaller sized empanadas at 375F. The baking time also varies (again based on the oven and size), but it’s in the range of 18-25 minutes – the empanadas will be ready once they are golden.
Video
Step by step photos of how to make homemade empanada dough:
Empanada recipes (including fillings) that you might like:
Hi Laylita, if i use vegetable shortening instead of butter in the dough. Is that possible?
Yes, you can do that.
Unfortunately I do not have a food processor, would a hand mixer work? It has the dough attachments? If not I’ll try making it by hand.
Hi Melissa – If you made any type of pastry dough (pie/tart/pizza/etc) when the mixer before then it should work also for the empanada dough. Personally I haven’t tried with a hand mixer – mine is very weak and doesn’t any dough attachments.
I needed 1/2 cup of water,because it was really dry…It was hard to roll out,but life is hard without a food processor..
Anyway,they are not as beautiful as yours,but they are 70% whole wheat and that’s enough for me..:D
It’s definitely more work without a food processor and whole wheat is even harder. My mom usually does a mix of 50/50 regular flour to whole wheat flour and it also makes the dough easier to roll. Another option is to use milk instead of water.
Also, when I first started making empanadas they didn’t look very pretty, it’s really one of those things where the more you make them, the easier it gets.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. I made pumpkin empanadas! They turned out flakey and yummy! Will make for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks again! Going to try many more of your recipes…saved you as a favorite!
K
Making these with my 5 year old today. Vegetarian black bean and corn ones (had some tomato-corn salsa left over in the fridge), and chorizo fillings. Thank you so much for the very accessible recipe! We had fun rolling out the dough together. :-)
Do you need use a special dough blade attachment for the food processor?
No, just the regular blade will do.
Laylita:
Great recipe! Quick&easy / well actually making the empanadas took me ages ;) but wasn’t expecting anything else. Te dough was delicious and the filling too (made your turkey empanadas, but instead of turkey I used roasted chicken). Thanks a lot!!!!
Hi Laylita,
I wanted to let you know that after trying another recipe from a “Spanish Tapas” book and throwing the 2 batches out. I remembered your recipe, so I printed it and it saved the day! My mini Empanadas turned out great! I made a total of 85. I still have about 40 left, I had more food that I really needed at my party. They are frozen and I am vacuum packing them in my foodsaver, for the guys for Christmas snacks. My guys can eat. LOL. Love your recipe, next time I want to do some sweet ones. Do you have any ideas for Sweet ones?
Julie
Hi Julie – Glad to hear that these worked well for you, and I’m sure you will enjoy the leftovers! Here’s the recipe for the dough for sweet empanadas: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2008/05/18/sweet-empanada-dough/
In terms of fillings I have a few recipes for sweet filling under the empanada section: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/category/all/by-theme/empanadas/, but really anything that would work well as a pie filling will work for sweet empanadas. My current fav for sweet ones are these gingerbread pear ones, they are perfect for the holidays: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2012/10/12/gingerbread-pear-empanadas/
Hi! I make empanadas frequently, but just dread frying (due to how unhealthy frying is). I have always used Goya Empanada Discos. I tried baking them, but they were never as good! Not as flaky and didn’t have the same crunch as frying.
Last year I bought a dough press on clearance to make “personal pies” and left it sitting in my cabinet for a year. I decided I would try it this past weekend when I had to make a bunch for a party and figured it was worth a try. It worked GREAT to make my empanadas!! I’m sooo excited that it took out such a huge amount of the work of keeping all my filling in while crimping with the fork. Soooo now I want to make them more often, but I’m REALLY not wanting to fry them. My filling is always the same, I brown ground turkey in sofrito, adobo, sazon, curry, tumeric, and some other seasonings like Emmerils and Mrs. Dash. Then I put the ground turkey with a slice of cheese in my dough, seal and fry. It’s really just the frying that prevents this from being down right healthy!
You’ve got me excited about trying different fillings, too! My SIL makes a breakfast version with scrambled eggs, bacon, salsa, and cheese and I grew up with these as mini apple pie turnovers (I’m from the south, my husband is Puerto Rican).
Since I want to make these more often and I’m a huge health nut, I just can’t bring myself to frying these all the time. So, I went searching for a dough that will bake well and found your recipe. I’m going to try this tomorrow!!
Finally, here’s my question. What temp do you bake and how long? Do you brush them with egg?? I’m sorry I don’t see the answer, skimmed over some questions hoping someone else asked it and I wouldn’t have to bother you, but I didn’t see it right off.
Catherine
P.S. I’m just getting a blog off the ground that I started playing around with a while back. Would you mind if I link to this recipe? I’d love to write all of this up to share :)
Hi Catherine – I usually put the baking temperature and time on the recipes with the filling, but my general rule of thumb is to bake medium sized empanadas (same as store bought size) at 400F for about 20-25 minutes. If they are smaller I bake them at 375F for 15-20 minutes. Exact baking time and temperature can be adjusted based on your oven. I do brush them with egg yolk right before baking, it helps give them that nice golden glow. Fine with me if you link to this recipe :)
I was wondering if you can use this for other fillings instead of just meat fillings or others.. Like fruit fillings for kids?
Yes, you can, check out the Empanada category to see all the different types that you can make: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/category/all/by-theme/empanadas/